Method and system for targeting messages to travelers

ABSTRACT

A computer-implemented method of targeting electronic messages to travelers, comprising performing processing associated with: utilizing geographic information comprising itinerary information, to determine where the travelers are currently and/or are projected to be during a given time period; creating a list of travelers which categorizes the geographic information and/or traveler information about the travelers on the list; electronically notifying a merchant with information related to the list and the current geographic information and/or current traveler information of the travelers on the list; receiving an electronic request from the merchant to transmit an electronic targeted message to some or all of the travelers on the list; and transmitting the electronic targeted message to some or all of the travelers on the list.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Nos.61/405,480, filed Oct. 21, 2010, and 61/405,488, filed Oct. 21, 2010,the entireties of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 illustrates a system for targeting messages to travelers,according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram illustrating booking and/or expensemanagement application of FIG. 1, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 sets forth a method for targeting messages to travelers,according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 for targeting messages to travelers,according to one embodiment. Using an environment such as the oneillustrated in FIG. 1, messages targeted to a particular user can besent. In one embodiment, travelers can be sent targeted messages (e.g.,from a host) while they utilize applications and/or devices (e.g.,personal digital assistant, phone, smart phone, etc.) when they travel.These devices and/or applications can also include features that provideweather information, flight information (e.g., status, schedule, gate,and baggage information), travel reservation and/or itineraryinformation (e.g., for air, rail, hotel, car, limousine, taxi, dining,or airport parking), or global positioning system (GPS) information(e.g., to help target messages), or any combination thereof. Those ofordinary skill in the art will see that many other features can beincluded. In addition, some devices and/or applications can integratewith other devices and/or applications so that information can beexchanged to improve the travel experience.

One example of system 100 is set forth in FIG. 1. However, it should benoted that system 100 could include: a traditional web-based applicationinside a computer browser, a client-server application which runs on alocal personal computer, a mobile web application which is optimized fora smart phone or PDA, a system that involves sending email, text orother short messages to a device (e.g., phone computer), or a mobileapplication that runs as a program on a smart phone, PDA, iPad, or othermobile computing device; or any combination thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates some primary components of system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. System 100 can comprise: adistributed computer network 105; a client computer 106; a client userinterface (UI) module 107; or a booking and/or expense managementapplication 110 in communication with a host server computer 120; or anycombination thereof. It should be noted that many configurations arepossible. For example, the booking and/or expense management application110 can be accessed from the work stations 106, which can communicatewith the host server computer 120. In addition, the booking and/orexpense management application 110 can be wholly or partially located onthe client work station 106. Additionally, the booking and/or expensemanagement application 110 can be wholly or partially located on thehost server computer 120. Those of ordinary skill in the art will seethat other configurations are also possible. It should be noted that anyof the modules, applications, systems, etc. of FIG. 1 or 2 can beoptional, or can be fully or partially combined with othermodules/applications, systems, etc.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the distributed computer network 105 can be anetwork (e.g., Internet, Intranet) that facilitates communicationbetween one or more client computers 106, such as, but not limited to:personal computers (PCs), minicomputers, microcomputers, main framecomputers, telephone devices, or other wired or wireless devices, suchas hand-held devices, or any combination thereof. FIG. 1 alsoillustrates a booking and/or expense management application 110, whichis housed, for example, on a host server computer 120, which caninclude, but is not limited to: a minicomputer, a microcomputer, a PC, amainframe computer, or any device with a processor and repository (e.g.,database) or coupling to a repository, or any combination thereof.

The client computer 106 can accept input from users, and allow users toview output from the travel and/or expense management application 110.The client UI module 107 can include software on the client computer 106that can let a user view, for example, HyperText Markup Language (HTML)documents and access files and software related to those documents. Thepresent invention can utilize, for example, HTML-based systems,Java-based systems, XML-based systems, or systems where a custom-builtapplication communicates over the network, or any combination thereof.Those of ordinary skill in the art will see that many other types ofsystems can be utilized.

The booking and/or expense management application 110 can work on orwith a client UI module 107 to display information to the user so thatservices and/or products can be booked and/or expensed. Some details ofthe booking and/or expense management application 110 are set out inFIG. 2. The booking and/or expense management application 110 can workwith many other types of tools (e.g., global distribution system,service provider website (e.g., airline website, car rental website), orinternal database, or any combination thereof) to determine which offersare available that correspond with the primary service and/or productthe user is interested in buying. For example, the booking and/orexpense management application 110 can retrieve messages from an API(Application Programming Interface) (e.g., SERVE, SAVORED, GROUPON, THEDEALMAP) and then send those messages to users. In other embodiments,messages may be retrieved from a database (e.g., internal to system 100,external to system 100) and sent to users. The booking and/or expensemanagement application 110 can also send targeted messages that includea link to launch an API and/or website (e.g., hotel finder, fuel finder,taxi finder, restaurant finder, deals website). For example, if it isknown that a user has rented a rental car, and is flying out of Dallas,Tex. in the next few hours, a targeted message including a link to afuel finder application may be sent to the user.

FIG. 2 is a system diagram illustrating booking and/or expensemanagement application 110 of FIG. 1, according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. The booking and/or expense management application 110can comprise a server UI module 201, a policy enforcement module 205, areporting module 206, or a targeted messages module 298, or anycombination thereof. These modules may be in contact with a database208. While these various modules are explained with respect to thebooking and/or expense management application 110, those of ordinaryskill in the art will see that not all modules described are necessary.In addition, additional modules or combination modules are possible.Additionally, it should be noted that pieces of modules can be utilizedwith or without other modules.

In one embodiment, the booking and/or expense management application 110can include a server module 201, which can communicate with a clientmodule 107 (e.g., on a client work station 106) through the network 105.The server module 201 can transmit data to the client module 107 (e.g.,corporate policy data, data accumulated from various travel and expensedata sources). Additional details on submitting expense reports,downloading travel data, or other credit card data can be found in thepatent applications which are incorporated by reference.

Those experienced in the art will recognize that many other modules canbe used to build the booking and/or expense management application 110.Data found and utilized by the booking and/or expense managementapplication 110 can be stored in database 208. In one embodiment, thedatabase 208 can comprise a travel reservation (e.g., itinerary,reservation) database 212, an expense database 211, a merchantinformation database 213, a policies database 214, a message trackingdatabase 215, or any combination thereof.

The travel reservation database 212 can comprise data received by usingsome combination of multiple sources (e.g., an on-line booking tool, atravel agent, contact with a travel vendor, a provider reservationand/or sale system, a provider ancillary option system). The travelrequest data from these sources can be assembled and stored in thetravel reservation database 212.

The expense database 211 can comprise expense data received frommultiple sources as well. The payer (e.g., the user, the traveler, thetraveler's assistant), can pay the travel agency or travel vendor with,for example, a credit card. The record of this transaction can go to thecredit card vendor, which can transmit funds to the travel vendor forthe amount purchased. The expense database 211 could be used in thefollowing example: after travel occurs, and a user goes to submit anexpense report, information about offers can be retrieved from, forexample, the expense database 211 because all information on offers canbe saved to this or another database.

The policy database 214 can comprise data relating to various entitiespolicies. Information from the policy database 214 can be used by thepolicy enforcement module 205 to review targeted messages (e.g., offers)to make sure they comply with entity policies. Information from thepolicy database 214 can also be used by the message ordering module 295to prioritize offers based on whether they comply with the entities'policies.

The message tracking database 215 can comprise data relating to how thetraveler (or someone associated with the traveler, such as an assistant,colleague, family member, etc.) interacted with the message.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will see that the various databasescan be combined or broken up further in some embodiments of theinvention.

The booking and/or expense management application 110 can receive traveldata from a travel system, expense transaction data from a credit cardvendor, and purchasing data from a travel vendor. For a given expense,data may be present from any number of sources, including thepossibility that no data is present. The booking and/or expensemanagement application 110 can receive data from the multiple sources atdifferent times and different rates. A source could transmit datacontinuously or near-continuously (e.g., once per hour), daily, weekly,or even monthly or at longer intervals. The booking and/or expensemanagement application 110 can store all the data received from all thesources when the information is received. The booking and/or expensemanagement application 110 can identify the traveler corresponding to agiven travel request and/or expense data and/or using an affinityprogram number (e.g., frequent flier number). Expense data can comeencoded with a credit card number that has been assigned to a specificperson. For example, for central billed cards, othertraveler-identifying information can be included. In an alternateembodiment, if a user uses an on-line self-booking tool to make a travelrequest, an identification of the user making the request (or user onwhose behalf the request is made) can be stored at the time of request,and the record locator from the PNR can also be stored. Travel dataidentified by this specific record locator can be mapped to a specifictraveler. Information about a traveler can be embedded into the remarkssection of the PNR by the travel agency, or the passenger's name can beread from the PNR. Similar methods can be used to identify the traveleron data transmitted directly from a travel vendor. Additionally otheruniquely identifying information, such as frequent traveler numbers, canbe used.

The booking and/or expense management application 110 can also include apolicy enforcement module 205. The policy enforcement module 205 canreview, for example, various offers to make sure they comply with entitypolicy before displaying any offers to a user. The policy enforcementmodule 205 can also be used with the message ordering module 295 to showor send offers in a particular order.

The route mapping module 290 can use information from the variousdatabases, as well as information from the GPS module 297, to map atraveler's route for a particular time period.

FIG. 3 sets forth a method for targeting messages to travelers,according to one embodiment. In some embodiments, hosts creating and/ormanaging devices and/or applications can charge a fee for the use of thedevice and/or application that enables sending targeted messages, or cancharge others (e.g., merchants including venders, providers, and/orsuppliers) for the ability, to target messages to the travelers, orboth. In some cases, targeted messages can generate revenue for the hostmanaging the targeted messages based on: whether or not the traveler“clicks” on or views the targeted message to get more information (e.g.,pay per click, pay per view); or if a purchase or reservation of someform is completed; or any combination thereof. Those of ordinary skillin the art will see that other methods can be used to generate revenuefor an entity.

In some embodiments, merchants can choose whether or not, and to whom,they would like to send targeted messages on a given day or at a givenhour based on information the merchant has at a certain point in time.In some embodiments, a merchant can send information on whether and towhom he would like to receive targeted messages from any type of device(e.g., computer, mobile device). For example, the host can notify arestaurant manager that there are a certain number of travelers in thearea that meet certain criteria (e.g., criteria set by the restaurantand/or criteria the host thinks indicates that certain travelers mightbe interested in a particular restaurant). The restaurant manager canthen wander around and check the kitchen, the reception area, and/or thefloor and determine he can handle more business that evening, and thensend a message or respond to an inquiry from the host from his cellphone to a host indicating that he would like to send a coupon to acertain set of travelers (e.g., any traveler within a 20 mile radiusthat is under 30). As another example, a restaurant manager may decidethat he would like anyone the host knows that will likely be within a 20mile radius under 30 to be automatically sent a coupon.

In some embodiments, entities can control the devices and/orapplications that a traveler utilizes. For example, an entity (company,government, non-profit or other entity) and/or the travel agency mayprefer a mobile application that connects with the travel agency and/ortravel systems selected by the entity. Travel managers at entities havea vested interest in knowing where all their travelers are at any giventime. Were a major event such as war, volcano, earthquake, or bridgecollapse to occur, the travel manager has an obligation to try todetermine if any travelers are impacted, determine whether each traveleris safe, and potentially re-route the traveler based on the changingcircumstances on the ground. Travel managers can rely on reportingsystems provided by travel agencies and/or travel systems to determinethe location of each traveler. If travelers do not purchase their travelthrough the entity's travel agency and/or travel system (e.g., utilizinga telephone, on on-line or mobile phone-enabled application that tiesinto the travel agency's systems), then the travel agency and/or travelsystem may not be able to provide this reporting. The consequent loss ofaccuracy in this reporting may negatively impact the travel agencyand/or travel system's business.

Referring to FIG. 3, in 305, a database 208, including travelerinformation (e.g., travel itineraries (e.g., past, present, future, orany combination thereof) in a travel reservation database 212 and/orexpense reporting information (e.g., past, present, future, or anycombination thereof) in an expense database 211), can be maintained. Inthis manner, information about the different types of travelers (e.g.,who the travelers are, where the travelers are going, demographicinformation) and what they tend to purchase when they travel can belearned.

In 310, the targeting messages module 298 can search for itineraryinformation in a travel reservation database 212 and map out travelroutes for travelers in designated areas (e.g., where merchants that areand/or might be interested in sending targeted messages haveestablishments). For example, the traveler's travel route can becompared to addresses of merchants who have indicated they are or may beinterested in sending targeted matches to the travelers. The itineraryinformation and/or GPS information can be reviewed to know whattravelers are traveling at a certain point in time, where they aregoing, and where they are currently. The targeting messages module 298can then map out the travelers travel routes for a particular time. Forexample, the targeting messages module 298 can be programmed toautomatically search database 211 and 212 at a certain time every day todetermine if any travelers are leaving within the next 48 hours (or anyother amount of time), and give those itineraries to an itinerary routemapping module 290, which can then map out the travelers travel map for48 hours (or any other amount of time). For example, the targetingmessages module 298 could determine that it knows of 300 people whoshould be or are traveling to the Washington D.C. metropolitan area on aparticular date. Based on the hotel reservations or pre-paid hotelrooms, the targeting messages module 298 can determine 125 of the 300travelers are staying in or near Tyson's Corner in McLean, Va.

In 315, the travel routes and optionally traveler information can becompared with message information to determine if there are any matchesand then targeted messages can be sent accordingly. For example, thetravel routes and traveler information can be broken down to fit incategories. The categories can then be searched to determine if there isa match. It should be noted that there are many other ways ofdetermining matches. It should also be noted that traveler informationcan include expense information, itinerary information, or preferenceinformation, or any combination thereof. Preference information mayinclude preference information entered by a particular user or for aparticular user. Preference information may also include preferencesguessed for a particular user by using information derived from similarusers (e.g., using machine learning techniques implemented in systemsrun by HADOOP, GOGGLE, AMAZON, NETFLIX).

For example, in some embodiments, merchants who have signed up fornotifications can be sent information about how many travelers there arenear or that will be near their establishment that are likely to beinterested in the merchant's product and/or service. Information on whomay be interested can be derived from spending information, such as, butnot limited to: past spending (e.g., names of establishments where thetraveler previously bought products and/or services, types ofestablishments where the traveler previously bought products or services(e.g., based on SIC codes, MCC codes, NAICS codes, other codes); type ofexpense traveler chose when entering expense in expense report; numberof guests traveler entertains when traveling; the amount the travelernormally spends on products and/or services; the traveler's entity'sallowances for products and/or services; or any combination thereof).Information about the merchants that have signed up for thenotifications can be stored in merchant information database 213. Theinformation in the merchant information database 213 can include, but isnot limited to: who the merchants are; where they are located; what theysell; what special offers they have (e.g., coupons, etc.); what type ofdemographics they are interested in; type of merchant establishment(e.g., based on SIC codes, MCC codes, NAICS codes, other codes); typicalprices the merchant charges; or hours of operation for the merchant; orany combination thereof.

The notification to the merchant could be, but is not limited to: ane-mail; an alert in a web or desktop application (e.g., on a computerand/or mobile device (e.g., phone)); a voice mail for a mobile phone; anSMS text for a mobile phone; or an alert inside an application runningon a mobile phone; or any combination thereof. Those of ordinary skillin the art will see that any type of device a merchant could use withthe capability to send and/or receive messages can be utilized.

In some embodiments, the merchant can choose which travelers to targetbased on demographic information (e.g., age, profession, salary, etc.),name information, information about the traveler's itinerary (e.g., itis known the traveler is staying at a particular hotel where aconvention is taking place, so the merchant could send targeted messagesto travelers also staying at the hotel indicating they can meet up withcolleagues with the convention at a certain restaurant and get adiscount). The merchant can also tailor an offer in a manner that adaptsto the daily and/or hourly circumstances. In one embodiment, a devicecan receive targeted messages, and information regarding when to displayor not display the targeted messages (e.g., at a certain time or withina certain time range, when the user is at or is not at a certainlocation or within a location range (e.g., latitude and longitude),etc.). In this way, for example, in some circumstances, targetedmessages may be cached for a future event, and may be shown on thedevice even when the device is not connected to the network using, forexample, previously known travel, expense and/or GPS data.

In other embodiments, targeted messages can be automatically matched andsent when a traveler (or a traveler's device) requests itineraryinformation. In this way, the merchants do not need to be furtherinvolved for the targeted messages to be sent.

For example, based on the spending information of the 125 travelers inthe Tyson's Corner example, the targeting messages module 298 candetermine that 45 of the 125 travelers that will be at Tyson's Cornerwould be receptive to an offer for fine dining. In some embodiments, anotification (e.g., a SMS text) can then be sent to merchant contacts(e.g., managers of Capitol Grille, the Palm, etc.) who have signed upwith the host, indicating that there are 45 travelers who will likely benear their establishment that day. Information can also be communicatedindicating that 28 of the travelers are already in the Tyson's cornerarea (e.g., and may be available for lunch and/or dinner) with theremaining 17 travelers arriving later but still before the dinner hour.A manager can check the reservation book and see that, for example, therestaurant is full for dinner but has plenty of space for lunch. Thus,the manager can choose to send a targeted message to the 28 travelersoffering a free appetizer with purchase of a meal during the hours of 11AM and 2 PM. As another example, the manager can determine at about 3 PMthat he has many reservations for 7:30 PM and later, but fewer before7:30 PM. The manager can thus send a targeted message advertising adiscount for early bird meals where the traveler is seated before 6 PM,and have the targeted message sent and/or shown from 3 PM until 5:40 PM.In this Way, the merchant can fill otherwise empty seats without havingto offer a discount or promotion for the later hours when the house isalready filled.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the merchants canpre-authorize a certain level of targeted messages to be sent so thatthe merchant does not need to give authorization. Thus, the merchant hasthe ability to pre-authorize previously saved offers. The merchant canalso put a start time and stop time, or other criteria indicating whenany targeted message should be delivered, if applicable.

In some embodiments, the physical location of the traveler (obtained,i.e., via GPS embedded in a mobile phone) can be combined with itineraryinformation to tailor an offer. For example, if a traveler is travelingfrom Washington D.C. to Seattle, Wash. on a flight which connectsthrough Chicago. If the traveler's GPS information indicates that theyare still in Washington D.C. but not at the airport, taxi, limo, and/orpre-paid parking can be offered. If the traveler is at the airport inWashington or Chicago, discounts to a coffee shop and/or restaurant inthe airport can be offered if there is more than 20 minutes before thetraveler's flight. (Note that, in some embodiments, information onwhether flights are delayed or cancelled can also be taken intoaccount.) If in any location, the traveler does not have a hotelreservation, he could be reminded about the entity's preferred hotels.If the traveler is in Seattle, dinner near the traveler's currentlocation or near the traveler's hotel can be advertised and/or a couponcan be sent.

In 320, the targeted messages module 298 can use policy information in apolicy database 214 to determine if a targeted message conflicts with anentity's policies. Targeted messages for certain travelers can then bedeleted if those messages do not comply with the traveler's entity'spolicy. In some embodiments, the policies can help select which targetedmessage(s) will be presented, and in what order. For example, an entitymay have a corporate negotiated contract with a MARRIOTT property in agiven city where a preferential rate is offered in exchange for drivinga certain amount of volume to that hotel property. If a travelerarriving in that city sees a targeted message for a HYATT property,offering a discount or preferential amenity that makes the HYATTattractive to the traveler, the traveler may choose to stay at theHYATT, which denies the entity the ability to use this stay towardstheir volume commitment at the MARRIOTT. Thus, the entity may choose tohave only Marriott offers displayed. In addition, an entity may have apolicy that dinner should cost no more than $25 per night, so a messagerecommending the local Morton's steak house would not be shown (or wouldbe shown after cheaper dinner options).

In 325, the targeting messages module 298 can send, in, for example, aprioritized manner, the targeted messages that the merchants haveindicated they would like to send. In this way, the traveler will viewor otherwise receive the targeted messages in a certain order. Theprioritization can be based on vendor criteria and/or how well a messagetargets a given traveler. This can help optimize the benefit to thetraveler, so the traveler will not complain about the offers, and mayview them as a benefit. This can also optimize the revenue to the hostbecause the more effective the offer (e.g., as far as the offer beingused and generating revenue and profit for the vendor), the more thevendors will pay). Thus, the ordering can be done, for example, basedon: how much a vendor has paid or may pay for the targeted message;whether a vendor has paid or may pay in order for his targeted messageto be shown before other targeted messages; traveler preferences; travelpatterns determined from the traveler's past behavior; categorization ofthe traveler as compared to other similar travelers; or the traveler'sentity's policies; or any combination thereof. It should be noted thatthere are many other reasons the ordering of the targeted messages canbe prioritized or changed.

The targeted message can be presented in many ways, including, but notlimited to: an e-mail, an alert in a web or desktop application (e.g.,on a computer and/or a mobile device (e.g., phone) when viewing thetraveler's itinerary); a voice mail for a mobile phone; an SMS text fora mobile phone; or an alert inside an application running on a mobilephone (e.g., when viewing the traveler's itinerary); or any combinationthereof.

In 330, the targeting messages module 298 can send information about thetargeted messages that are actually sent can be stored in a messagetracking database 215. For example, information can be compiled,including, but not limited to: how many travelers were sent the targetedmessage, how many travelers actually viewed the targeted message (e.g.,opened and/or accessed a text or email), whether the traveler interactedwith the targeted message, when a user interacted with the targetedmessage (e.g., time information), or whether the traveler used a couponor other offer communicated in the targeted message, or any combinationthereof. It should be noted that there are many other types ofinformation about the targeted messages that can be stored.

In 340, the targeted messages module 298 can retrieve information fromthe expense database 211 and search the message tracking database 215 todetermine whether a targeted message was utilized by a traveler. Forexample, some targeted messages may not require any interaction. Thetargeted message may simply recommend a given establishment and givedirections, with no further information. Thus, the host may need to knowwhich travelers actually took the merchant up on the offer. The host canrely on the merchant to provide this information. In addition, thetargeted messages module 298 can also search information in the expensedatabase 211 to determine which travelers expensed a product and\orservice from a particular merchant. The targeted messages database 215can then be searched to determine if any of those travelers had receivedor interacted with a targeted message from that particular merchant.This can be done, for example, in an audit by a person and/or anautomated audit, to help ensure that a merchant is paying for what heshould (e.g., a restaurant may not pay unless a reservation is made orif the traveler shows up and purchases something). The storedinformation can also be used to help optimize targeting in the futurefor this traveler as well as other travelers (e.g., with similardemographic information).

Thus, for example, if the offer is transmitted to the 45 travelers and20 click on the offer (which is a $10 coupon) and 10 use the offer, themerchant could be charged for the 45 that were sent the offer; for the20 that clicked on the offer; or for the 10 that used the offer; or anycombination thereof. In some embodiments, merchants can only be chargedwhen a traveler actually buys their product and/or service. In this,way, if no-one takes the manager up on the offer, the manager may nothave to pay. The merchant can report this information to the host or thehost could audit and/or search the expense database 211 to see, forexample, who ate at the Morton's in Tyson's Corner on a particular day.

While various embodiments have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of example, and notlimitation. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevantart(s) that various changes in form and detail can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope. In fact, after reading theabove description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevantart(s) how to implement alternative embodiments. Thus, the presentembodiments should not be limited by any of the above-describedembodiments.

In addition, it should be understood that any figures which highlightthe functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposesonly. The disclosed methodology and system are each sufficientlyflexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized in ways otherthan that shown. For example, the steps listed in any flowchart may bere-ordered or only optionally used (even when not explicitly indicated)in some embodiments. Thus, those skilled in the art will realize thatthe ordering of the steps of the figures can be altered in otherembodiments and that various steps can be removed in some embodiments.

It should be noted that Applicant has, for consistency reasons, used thephrase “comprising” throughout the claims instead of, or in addition to,“including, but not limited to”. However, it should be noted that“comprising” should be interpreted as meaning “including, but notlimited to”.

In addition, it should be noted that, if not already set forthexplicitly, the term “a” should be interpreted as “at least one” and“the”, “said”, etc. should be interpreted as “the at least one”, “saidat least one”, etc.

It should be noted that the purpose of any Abstract of the Disclosure,Summary, or Background section is to enable the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office and the public generally, and especially thescientists, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiarwith patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from acursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure ofthe application. The Abstract of the Disclosure, Summary, or Backgroundsection are not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

Finally, it is the applicant's intent that only claims that include theexpress language “means for” or “step for” be interpreted under 35U.S.C. 112, paragraph 6. Claims that do not expressly include the phrase“means for” or “step for” are not to be interpreted under 35 U.S.C. 112,paragraph 6.

1. A computer-implemented method of targeting electronic messages totravelers, comprising: performing processing associated with utilizinggeographic information comprising itinerary information, to determinewhere the travelers are currently and/or are projected to be during atleast one given time period; performing processing associated, withcreating at least one list of travelers which categorizes the geographicinformation and/or traveler information about the travelers on the atleast one list; performing processing associated with electronicallynotifying at least one merchant with information related to the at leastone list and the current geographic information and/or current travelerinformation of the travelers on the at least one list; performingprocessing associated with receiving at least one electronic requestfrom the at least one merchant to transmit at least one electronictargeted message to some or all of the travelers on the at least onelist; and performing processing associated with transmitting theelectronic targeted message to some or all of the travelers on the atleast one list.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the travelerinformation comprises: expense information; itinerary information;preference information; or any combination thereof.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising performing processing associated withcollecting at least one fee from the at least one merchant fortransmitting the at least one electronic targeted message to thetravelers.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising performingprocessing associated with collecting at least one fee from the at leastone merchant when the travelers act upon the at least one electronictargeted message.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein acting upon the atleast one electronic targeted message further comprises purchasing atleast one good and/or service.
 6. The method of claim 5, furthercomprising performing processing associated with auditing expensereporting information for the travelers to know whether or not the atleast one good and/or service was purchased.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising performing processing associated with utilizingexpense reporting information to help determine what different types oftravelers purchase when they travel.
 8. The method of claim 1, whereinthe geographic information also comprises global positioning system(GPS) information.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein multiple electronictargeted messages are transmitted in a prioritized manner.
 10. Themethod of claim 1, wherein only electronic targeted messages that offerat least one product and/or at least one service that complies with thetraveler's entities' policies are transmitted.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein the at least one electronic targeted message is transmittedutilizing: at least one mobile phone; at least one smart phone; at leastone personal digital assistant; at least one desktop computer; at leastone laptop computer; at least one iPad; or at least one touch paddevice; or any combination thereof.
 12. The method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one electronic targeted message comprises: at least oneoffer for at least one product; at least one offer for at least oneservice; or information about at least one event; or any combinationthereof.
 13. A computer-implemented system of targeting messages totravelers, comprising: at least one processor configured for: performingprocessing associated with utilizing geographic information, comprisingitinerary information, to determine where the travelers are currentlyand/or are projected to be during at least one given time period;performing processing associated with creating at least one list oftravelers which categorizes the geographic information and/or travelerinformation about the travelers on the at least one list; performingprocessing associated with notifying at least one merchant with the atleast one list and the current geographic information and/or currenttraveler information of the travelers on the at least one list;performing processing associated with receiving a request from the atleast one merchant to transmit at least one targeted message to some orall of the travelers on the at least one list; and performing processingassociated with transmitting the targeted message to some or all of thetravelers on the at least one list.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinthe traveler information comprises: expense information; itineraryinformation; preference information; or any combination thereof.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured for performing processing associated with collecting at leastone fee from the at least one merchant for transmitting the targetedmessages to the travelers.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured for performing processingassociated with collecting at least one fee from the at least onemerchant when the travelers act upon the targeted messages.
 17. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein acting upon the targeted messages furthercomprises purchasing at least one good and/or service.
 18. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured forperforming processing associated with auditing expense reportinginformation for the travelers to know whether or not the at least onegood and/or service was purchased.
 19. The system of claim 13, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured for performingprocessing associated with utilizing expense reporting information tohelp determine what different types of travelers purchase when theytravel.
 20. The system of claim 13, wherein the geographic informationalso comprises global positioning system (GPS) information.
 21. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the targeted message are transmitted in aprioritized manner.
 22. The system of claim 13, wherein only targetedmessages that offer at least one product and/or service that complieswith the travelers entities' policies are transmitted.
 23. The system ofclaim 13, wherein the targeted messages are transmitted utilizing: atleast one mobile phone; at least one smart phone; at least one personaldigital assistant; at least one desktop computer; at least one laptopcomputer; at least one iPad; or at least one touch pad device; or anycombination thereof.
 24. The system of claim 13, wherein the targetedmessages comprise: at least one offer for at least one product; at leastone offer for at least one service; or information about at least oneevent; or any combination thereof.
 25. The method of claim 1, whereinthe at least one electronic targeted message is cached on at least onedevice for at least one future event.
 26. The method of claim 1, whereinat least one device can receive electronic targeted messages, andinformation regarding when to display or not display the electronictargeted messages.
 27. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneelectronic targeted message provides a link to at least one applicationprogramming interface (API) and/or at least one web site.
 28. The methodof claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic targeted message isgenerated by retrieving information from an application programminginterface and/or a database.
 29. The method of claim 1, wherein the atleast one electronic targeted message is at least one real-timeelectronic targeted message.
 30. The system of claim 13, wherein the atleast one electronic targeted message is cached on at least one devicefor at least one future event.
 31. The system of claim 13, wherein atleast one device can receive electronic targeted messages, andinformation regarding when to display or not display the electronictargeted messages.
 32. The system of claim 13, wherein the at least oneelectronic targeted message provides a link to at least one applicationprogramming interface (API) and/or at least one web site.
 33. The systemof claim 13, wherein the at least one electronic targeted message isgenerated by retrieving information from an application programminginterface and/or a database.
 34. The system of claim 13, wherein the atleast one electronic targeted message is at least one real-timeelectronic targeted message.